Putting a socket in attic

Xcellor

Hi All,

I would like to be able to plug a lamp in my attic but obviously need to bring some electricity up. How would I go about doing this safely? Can I try and tap into one of the cables that power ceiling lights or is there a better way?

Some tips would be great!
Thanks,
X

coghlac3

Am no expert, but would think that u'd be safer takin a loop of another socket, as taking loop loop off would be dependant on it being switched on simultaneously.....

aido79

best way is probably to tap into the nearest ceiling light. take a three core cable9 live neutral and earth from the light to a switch in the attic. from this bring a 3 core cable to the light in the attic. you should use a plastic back box for your switch. in the back box put the neutral and earth in a connector and break the live through the switch.

Latchy

What i did was drill a hole in cieling leading to attic and secured an extension cable along bedroom wall to the light system in atic (which was originally an outside wall lamp ) and just plugged it into the wall socket in bedroom .Quick cheap ,and efiecient . But i only use attic for storage .

AckwelFoley

I dont want to be giving you a short answer, but if you dont know how to do this, you need to get an electrician.

DIY electrical work is a no no

Xcellor

snyper wrote: »

I dont want to be giving you a short answer, but if you dont know how to do this, you need to get an electrician.

DIY electrical work is a no no

You are probably right but in the spirit of DIY I feel obligated to give it a go

I mean I have an idea what to do but there are good ideas, bad ideas and even worse ideas so I want to be somewhere between good idea and bad idea.

I'm not looking for a step by step guide just a point in the right direction. I only use the attic for storage.

Thanks

X

Titainus

snyper is right
making a mistake in carpentry,masonry,plastering and landscaping runs a risk of it looking bad when finsihed
making a mistake in electrical runs the risk of killing you and possibly buring down your house

im an electrian
play it safe, pay an electrian €20 to put a light in the attic

Deedsie

I want to put electricity in an out side shed, Its a prefab actually that once had electricity in it plugs lights and an alarm i think. How hard would it be to connect this to the house power supply. The meter in the house is about 40 feet from the prefab.

Would it be expensive?

Saruman

Hmm i have dabbled in some DIY electrical stuff.. Im fairly confident in what i have done so far in the house.
I will be putting an electrical socket in the attic myself. Now i do have a bungalow, so its a little easier. All the elctrical wires run up there so i can take it off one going to a socket.
Its easy not to kill yourself as long as you turn off the mains, i.e. changing a light fitting.. turn the switch that turns off all lights in the house. Same for sockets if working on a socket etc.

Then you just need to make sure you are not leaving a fire risk.

PauloMN

Titainus wrote: »

im an electrian
play it safe, pay an electrian €20 to put a light in the attic

You'd spend €20 wasted on phone calls trying to find an electrician who would do a job like that for €20.

GreeBo

Saruman wrote: »

Hmm i have dabbled in some DIY electrical stuff.. Im fairly confident in what i have done so far in the house.
I will be putting an electrical socket in the attic myself. Now i do have a bungalow, so its a little easier. All the elctrical wires run up there so i can take it off one going to a socket.
Its easy not to kill yourself as long as you turn off the mains, i.e. changing a light fitting.. turn the switch that turns off all lights in the house. Same for sockets if working on a socket etc.

Then you just need to make sure you are not leaving a fire risk.

You could still get a bang of the neutral with just the lights or sockets turned off. Better to turn off the main breaker.

Also, its easy to not kill yourself during the install (cut all power) its afterwards that is the dangerous bit. If you run a socket from a light and then 5 years down the line, long after you have gone, someone else plugs something heavy in there they will have problems.
Take a spur (or better still loop it up and back) from a socket in a room below.

Thats what I did to hang my LCD from the bedroom wall.

I'm by no means an expert but I try to work safe and if all else fails, pay for the heavier cable

Saruman

GreeBo wrote: »

You could still get a bang of the neutral with just the lights or sockets turned off. Better to turn off the main breaker.

Umm that is in fact what i said

In fairness i did not use the word breaker, i just said the switch that turns everything off Where the trip switch is.

GreeBo

Saruman wrote: »

Umm that is in fact what i said

In fairness i did not use the word breaker, i just said the switch that turns everything off Where the trip switch is.

ahh but you said turns all the lights off if working on the lights, you could have your lights off but your ring main still live..but I get your point, basically
"Flick the switch that turns everything off"

northdublin

easiest way to install a light in an attic is to go to the nearest ceiling rose in the attic and find the constant live and neutral, take a lenght of 1.5 nym from it to a single switch near the attic hatch then a lenght of similar cable from the switch to the light fitting. in the switch connect the earths together and the neutrals together in some connectors and run the 2 lives trough the switch. you could also run the switch down into the hotpress of out on the landing if you do this use a switch with a neon so you will know if the lights are on.

ps turn off the power at the main 63 amp switch, do all the donkey work first and make the connection to the mains that last thing.
do not use flex and tc clip the cables out of the way

GreeBo

northdublin wrote: »

easiest way to install a light in an attic is to go to the nearest ceiling rose in the attic and find the constant live and neutral, take a lenght of 1.5 nym from it to a single switch near the attic hatch then a lenght of similar cable from the switch to the light fitting. in the switch connect the earths together and the neutrals together in some connectors and run the 2 lives trough the switch. you could also run the switch down into the hotpress of out on the landing if you do this use a switch with a neon so you will know if the lights are on.

He wants a socket, not a light and we are debating the "merits" of taking a socket from an existing light.
Nice idea with the neon switch though.

northdublin

I would like to be able to plug a lamp in my attic (quote)

sorry i asumed it was just a light he needed for searchin around instead of lugging a hand lamp or a torch up there. ive put a good few lights forppl in attics and thats how i would do it.
depending on the house if the bedroom walls are drylined you could fish up from an existing socket or find where one of the cables goes down and juncion it from there. a lenght of pencil trunking lid could be used to determine if this is posible. remember the golden rule if you can fish one cable fish a second just incase.:D

Latchy

I am very safety concious when it comes to any home diy and always think through before undertaking any task .The light i connected into my attic about 5 years ago is still working ok and safe to use .

aido79

you can't just take a socket off a lighting circuit. all sockets should be on an rcd. lights aren't on an rcd so therefor if a socket is taken from a lighting circuit it will not be on the rcd and will not be safe.

Davy

aido79 wrote: »

you can't just take a socket off a lighting circuit. all sockets should be on an rcd. lights aren't on an rcd so therefor if a socket is taken from a lighting circuit it will not be on the rcd and will not be safe.

I will second this. as you want a 'socket' to plug in a light, you should take it from the socket circuit. this will probably be harder for you for finding cables, fishing etc so i would just take a 1.5mm from a lighting circuit, bound to be one very close and put up a light rather than the socket.

Xcellor

davton wrote: »

I will second this. as you want a 'socket' to plug in a light, you should take it from the socket circuit. this will probably be harder for you for finding cables, fishing etc so i would just take a 1.5mm from a lighting circuit, bound to be one very close and put up a light rather than the socket.

I suppose the reason for having a socket as opposed to just a light is that if I ever want to use tools up in the attic, for flooring , big annoying extension leads are needed a plug socket would give me a bit of flexibility but trying to get access to a plug socket cabling from attic will be hard unless I externally bring the cable up the wall drill hole in ceiling feed through and then pull cable through and wire the socket... maybe bringing it through the hot press cupboard would be the best thing since doing it in a bedroom would look ugly... hmm does that sound a good idea?

X

Latchy

Xcellor wrote: »

I suppose the reason for having a socket as opposed to just a light is that if I ever want to use tools up in the attic, for flooring , big annoying extension leads are needed a plug socket would give me a bit of flexibility but trying to get access to a plug socket cabling from attic will be hard unless I externally bring the cable up the wall drill hole in ceiling feed through and then pull cable through and wire the socket... maybe bringing it through the hot press cupboard would be the best thing since doing it in a bedroom would look ugly... hmm does that sound a good idea?
X

Thats more or less what i did ,and if you tack it along the wall or down a door frame it doesnt look to ugly.

GreeBo

Xcellor wrote: »

I suppose the reason for having a socket as opposed to just a light is that if I ever want to use tools up in the attic, for flooring , big annoying extension leads are needed a plug socket would give me a bit of flexibility but trying to get access to a plug socket cabling from attic will be hard unless I externally bring the cable up the wall drill hole in ceiling feed through and then pull cable through and wire the socket... maybe bringing it through the hot press cupboard would be the best thing since doing it in a bedroom would look ugly... hmm does that sound a good idea?

X

I would do both.
Do the light first as that will make it easier to work when doing the socket
Hotpress will be easier to get the cable up/down from but I doubt you have any existing sockets near your hotpress. I took mine down the wall in the bedroom, I choose a wall that had a vent in it as it helped in the fishing process. (Also there was a socket under the vent )

AckwelFoley

I see somone getting smoked by 220v of DIY Electrical work.

I hope boards got a good legal team

Xcellor

snyper wrote: »

I see somone getting smoked by 220v of DIY Electrical work.

I hope boards got a good legal team

Is it really that complicated? If all the precautions are taken like turning the main breaker off the chance of getting smoked is small... I mean I'm not rewiring the whole place...

McSandwich

aido79 wrote: »

you can't just take a socket off a lighting circuit. all sockets should be on an rcd. lights aren't on an rcd so therefor if a socket is taken from a lighting circuit it will not be on the rcd and will not be safe.

Good advice. Also, light fittings are not always earthed wheras sockets must be earthed, even if only used for a plug in light.

AckwelFoley

Xcellor wrote: »

Is it really that complicated? If all the precautions are taken like turning the main breaker off the chance of getting smoked is small... I mean I'm not rewiring the whole place...

We own some apartments.

Over the last 20 years, you really want to see some of the horror i have.

such as light bellwire to wire sockets... outside.. covered by a milk carton. :eek:

Xcellor

snyper wrote: »

We own some apartments.

Over the last 20 years, you really want to see some of the horror i have.

such as light bellwire to wire sockets... outside.. covered by a milk carton. :eek:

A milk carton? That's just shoddy work. Coke bottle works much better Seriously you shouldnt take short cuts when it comes to electrical work. Too much at stake, like your home and loved ones burning.

soelectrical

WAY too many DIY people in here LOL.PM if you want advice on how to do this properly and within regulations.

sb08

jus wondering if you can help me. i'm an app elec and want to wire an outside sensor light in my back garden. i want to switch it also!! how??

ZENER

sb08 wrote: »

jus wondering if you can help me. i'm an app elec and want to wire an outside sensor light in my back garden. i want to switch it also!! how??

Call an electrician or wait till you've finished your apprenticeship ?!

ZEN

Reyman

latchyco wrote: »

What i did was drill a hole in ceiling leading to attic and secured an extension cable along bedroom wall to the light system in atic (which was originally an outside wall lamp ) and just plugged it into the wall socket in bedroom .Quick cheap ,and efiecient . But i only use attic for storage .

This is the best approach for someone who is not an Electrician. It's simple and safe. Cutting in on existing live cables in the attic, which may be on a 10 amp ring and with no trip protection, is potentially very dangerous